Adama's swimming medal hopes dashed in semifinal round

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Nigeria’s remarkable run in the pool at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games came to an end on Saturday evening, as teenager Abduljabar Adama missed out on a place in the final of the Men’s 50m Freestyle despite a determined performance against a world-class field, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

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Adama, who had earlier made history as Nigeria’s lone swimmer to reach the semi-finals, finished sixth in Semi-final 2, clocking 22.44 seconds to end his impressive Commonwealth Games campaign.

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Australia’s Jamie Jack won the race in 21.55 seconds, ahead of Canada’s Joshua Liendo (21.61sec) and Australia’s Flynn Southam (21.86sec), while Singapore’s Mikkel Jun Jie Lee finished fourth in 22.25sec and the Bahamas’ Lamar Taylor placed fifth in 22.30sec, just ahead of the Nigerian.

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The 17-year-old had progressed from the heats earlier in the day to become the only Nigerian swimmer to advance to the semi-finals, after teammate Clinton Opute was eliminated in the preliminary round of his own event.

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Adama had also featured in the men’s 100m butterfly during the Games, placing seventh in his heat in 55.81 seconds, in a race that saw compatriot Colins Ebingha finish sixth in 55.45 seconds, narrowly missing out on a semi-final place.

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Although Adama fell short of a place in the medal race in Glasgow, his run represented another important milestone for Nigerian swimming on the Commonwealth stage.

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The teenager arrived at the Games with an impressive reputation as an African junior record holder, having become the first Nigerian to win a medal at the World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships in Romania, where he claimed silver in the men’s 50m butterfly and broke the national record twice in a single day.

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His run to the last-16 of one of the Commonwealth Games’ most competitive sprint events underlines his growing stature and offers hope for the future of Nigerian swimming, coming on the back of Team Nigeria’s outstanding start to the Games in para powerlifting.

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